By Dan Ambrose: WBA lightweight champion Richar Abril (18-3-1, 8 KO’s) dominated #2 WBA Sharif Bogere (23-1, 15 KO’s) tonight in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision in a fight that was televised on Showtime. It was a good performance from Abril, who said after the fight that he wants WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner (26-0, 22 KO’s) next.
Abril, 5’11”, would be a tough fight for the 5’7” Broner because it would force Broner to come forward to be the aggressor. Broner wouldn’t be able to lean backwards using the shoulder roll against Abril because he’s be picked apart by Abril’s long arms.
Broner would have to initiate in the same way that Bogere was doing tonight, and that would mean that Broner would be open to getting hit by Abril’s shots on the way in.
Abril does a good job of shutting down his opponents when they get in close by clinching them. Whether Abril could smother Broner the same way he did Bogere is the big question. Broner might keep punching away to the body even with Abril holding on to him, and that would make it a little tougher for Abril.
Broner would be an interesting choice for his next fight because you’d think that Abril would have mentioned Brandon Rios. Abril lost a controversial 12 round split decision to Rios last year, and it’s bothered Abril ever since because he knows he fought well enough to deserve the victory in that fight.
Abril seems to realize that he’s not going to get another shot against Rios because Rios’ promoter at Top Rank doesn’t have any interest in putting him back in with Abril. The Broner fight is the much bigger one for Abril compared to a second fight against Rios.
Broner has a fan base, while Rios is still trying to pick up fans because he’s not as interesting to watch and he still has the stink from his controversial decision over Abril that’s following him around.
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